Atletico, Levante qualify for last 32 of Europa League

 MADRID, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Two of the three Spanish clubs involved in Europa League advanced into the last 32 on Thursday.

Atletico Madrid assured their place in the next round thanks to a 1-0 win over Happoel Tel Aviv with a Raul Garcia goal after just seven minutes of the game.

The win assured that the reigning¹ Europa League champions had nothing at stake in their last group game and backs up the policy of coach Diego Simeone of playing squad² players in his side's European matches.

Earlier in the night, Levante also qualified³ for the knockout phase of the tournament with a 3-1 win away to Swedish side Helsignsborgs.

Angel opened the scoring for the Spanish side, who are making their first appearance in Europe, on eight minutes and Papa Diop doubled the lead after 37 minutes.

Vicente Iborra made it 3-0 with eight minutes left and although Thomas Sorum scored a late consolation⁴ for the home side, it was too little and too late.

Meanwhile, last season's beaten finalists Athletic⁵ Bilbao were knocked out of the competition without kicking a ball. Athletic's game in Israel was postponed⁶ because of the conflict over Gaza and a bomb explosion in Haifa, but the 1-1 draw between Sparta Prague and Olympique Lyon leaves the Basques with no chance of making the next round.

1 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

2 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

5 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

6 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。